Lord of the Rings in Harry Potter
by burtonfan422
Summary: It is the spring of 1955. Horace Slughorn goes into the office of his fellow teacher Albus Dumbledore where he finds his friend reading a book written by a Muggle. But Dumbledore tells him why he is reading it, and why he enjoys it.


Horace Slughorn was making his way up to Dumbledore's office with a bottle of blackberry wine in one hand, two glasses in the other, and a small box tucked under his arm. He was softly humming one of his favorite songs, "Odo the Hero." He came to Dumbledore's office and knocked on the door using his right foot, his hands being too full to do that particular job.

"Enter please," replied a rather soft voice. The door opened on its own accord and Slughorn strolled on in. He was overjoyed to see his friend Albus Dumbledore sitting at his desk with his pet phoenix Fawkes on a perch beside him.

"Ah, Horace, and what do I owe this pleasure?" said Dumbledore, putting a book he had been reading aside, taking great care to mark his place.

"Why, Happy Birthday dear Albus!" exclaimed Slughorn joyfully. He invited himself to the seat in front of Dumbledore's desk and placed the bottle of wine and the two glasses on Dumbledore's desk and then placed the box between the two of them.

"I thought maybe the two of us could enjoy a bit of your birthday gift together. Just two friends enjoying something sweet and having a laugh together," explained Slughorn, as he opened the box to reveal Pumpkin Pasties. Then he opened the bottle and the smell of blackberries filled the room.

"Slughorn! How extremely thoughtful! You really ought not have troubled yourself!" exclaimed Dumbledore, but he did help himself to a pasty.

"It's no trouble at all, I'm a bit of a sucker for the sweeter things myself," replied Slughorn as he poured some wine into both glasses. The two of them gently tapped their glasses together and sipped. It was right about then that Slughorn noticed the book Dumbledore had been reading. It was entitled _The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_.

"Is that a decent book?" he inquired. Dumbledore looked back upon the cover of the book and smiled.

"I find it to be a marvelous tale! It's written by a Muggle professor, goes by the name of Tolkien. It's about a group of individuals who essentially go on a quest to destroy an object that could likely bring about the destruction of their world. There's this one character who's a wizard named Gandalf who I find, well, let's just say I feel as though I really know him," answered Dumbledore.

"Oh, pray don't take this the wrong way, but you enjoy reading books written by Muggles who try to delve into a world they believe doesn't exist?" inquired Slughorn further while helping himself to a Pumpkin Pasty.

"But of course! I find Muggles quite fascinating, and sometimes the fantasy worlds they create are almost more fascinating than our own! Perhaps because they're allowed a little more imagination than we are when we ourselves write. Honestly, I feel if more witches and wizards were willing to read things like this by Muggles, they themselves might learn something that they might not be able to at this wonderful school," said Dumbledore.

"Oh, don't get me wrong Albus, you know perfectly well I have nothing against Muggles, or Muggle-borns for that matter. I just never knew many wizards to, what's the word I'm looking for, look into Muggle literature," explained Slughorn delicately.

"No worries at all Horace. Personally, I feel that's one of the reasons some wizards have trouble accepting those who were not raised by wizards. They just don't take time to appreciate another culture's customs, folklore and beliefs. Perhaps if they did, this might be a happier world," replied Dumbledore, who helped himself to more wine.

"I do see your point. Just out of curiosity, how did you manage to get a copy? I can't easily imagine you going into a Muggle book shop in those robes with your overly long beard and hair, why that'd be a major hit on the Statute of Secrecy, or at the very least, it'd cause quite a scene!" laughed Horace, Dumbledore eagerly joined in the laughter too.

"An excellent point! Unlike some of my associates at the Wizengamot, I read the Muggle newspapers, and I saw a review for this particular book. It seemed favorable and considering it was indeed a fantasy novel, I thought it might be worth my time to read. I sent our gamekeeper Hagrid to pick it up for me. Had to give him some Muggle money to purchase it, but fortunately, his attire is much closer to the common Muggle wardrobe. He said later that he caused a bit of a commotion at the bookstore because he doesn't understand Muggle currency. Just laid the entire amount I gave him on the desk. Along, I am sure with yarn, dog biscuits and whatever else the good lad carries in his pockets. Lucky for him the Leaky Cauldron was right next door so he could escape into that," explained Dumbledore.

"Perhaps Flourish and Blotts should start selling more Muggle books!" suggested Horace with a hearty laugh. Dumbledore joined in the laugh gladly.


End file.
